OregonFlora: Vaccinium myrtillus vs. Vaccinium deliciosum

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium deliciosum
	whortleberry	Cascade bilberry
Habit	Shrubs deciduous, up to 4 dm; branching habit open, rarely weakly “broom-like”; twigs strongly angled, green to greenish brown, sparsely puberulent along grooves, sometimes glabrous; rhizomatous.	Shrubs deciduous, up to 4 dm; twigs round in cross section to angled, green to greenish brown, glabrous to puberulent; rhizomatous.
Leaves	elliptic to ovate, 11–20(30) × 5–10 mm, light green abaxially, green adaxially; thin; flexible; margins sharply serrate from tips to near base, prominently veined; tips acute; surfaces abaxially glandular, adaxially glabrous.	obovate to oblanceolate, 10–35 × 5–17 mm, light green to gray abaxially, green adaxially; thin; flexible; margins serrate from tips to 50–75% of length of blade, weakly reticulate-veined; tips rounded, sometimes subacute; surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences	solitary flowers in axils.	solitary flowers in axils.
Flowers	sepals 5; calyces shallowly lobed, glabrous; petals 5; corollas ovoid-urceolate to globose, 3–7 × 4–7 mm, white to pink, glaucous; filaments glabrous.	sepals 5; calyx lobes indistinct or very shallow; petals 5; corollas globose-urceolate to globose, 4–6 × 4–7 mm; pinkish, glaucous; filaments < anthers, glabrous.
Fruits	4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom.	6–12 mm in diameter, red to bluish black, with a bloom.
2n	=24, 48.	=48.

	Vaccinium myrtillus	Vaccinium deliciosum
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Discussion	Wet mid- to high elevation areas. Flowering Apr–Jul. 1100–2100 m. BW, Casc, Sisk. ID, NV, WA; northeast to Alberta and southeast to NM, Greenland; Asia, Europe. Native. Morphologically, Vaccinium myrtillus is similar to V. scoparium, and at higher elevations their ranges overlap. Vaccinium myrtillus differs from V. scoparium by its generally larger leaves and flowers, often sparsely puberulent twigs, and its broom-like habit.	Subalpine forests and slopes. Flowering Jul–Aug. 800–2100 m. Casc. CA, ID, WA; north to British Columbia. Native. See also V. caespitosum.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640 Stephen Meyers	Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640 Stephen Meyers
Sibling taxa	V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. deliciosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum	V. caespitosum, V. corymbosum, V. macrocarpon, V. membranaceum, V. myrtillus, V. ovalifolium, V. ovatum, V. oxycoccos, V. parvifolium, V. scoparium, V. uliginosum
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Vaccinium deliciosum

whortleberry

Cascade bilberry

Habit

Shrubs deciduous, up to 4 dm; branching habit open, rarely weakly “broom-like”; twigs strongly angled, green to greenish brown, sparsely puberulent along grooves, sometimes glabrous; rhizomatous.

Shrubs deciduous, up to 4 dm; twigs round in cross section to angled, green to greenish brown, glabrous to puberulent; rhizomatous.

Leaves

elliptic to ovate, 11–20(30) × 5–10 mm, light green abaxially, green adaxially; thin; flexible;

margins sharply serrate from tips to near base, prominently veined;

tips acute;

surfaces abaxially glandular, adaxially glabrous.

obovate to oblanceolate, 10–35 × 5–17 mm, light green to gray abaxially, green adaxially; thin; flexible;

margins serrate from tips to 50–75% of length of blade, weakly reticulate-veined;

tips rounded, sometimes subacute;

surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

solitary flowers in axils.

Flowers

sepals 5;

calyces shallowly lobed, glabrous;

petals 5;

corollas ovoid-urceolate to globose, 3–7 × 4–7 mm, white to pink, glaucous;

filaments glabrous.

sepals 5;

calyx lobes indistinct or very shallow;

petals 5;

corollas globose-urceolate to globose, 4–6 × 4–7 mm; pinkish, glaucous;

filaments < anthers, glabrous.

Fruits

4–9 mm in diameter, dark red to bluish black; without a bloom.

6–12 mm in diameter, red to bluish black, with a bloom.

=24, 48.

=48.

Vaccinium deliciosum

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Wet mid- to high elevation areas. Flowering Apr–Jul. 1100–2100 m. BW, Casc, Sisk. ID, NV, WA; northeast to Alberta and southeast to NM, Greenland; Asia, Europe. Native.

Morphologically, Vaccinium myrtillus is similar to V. scoparium, and at higher elevations their ranges overlap. Vaccinium myrtillus differs from V. scoparium by its generally larger leaves and flowers, often sparsely puberulent twigs, and its broom-like habit.

Subalpine forests and slopes. Flowering Jul–Aug. 800–2100 m. Casc. CA, ID, WA; north to British Columbia. Native.

See also V. caespitosum.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 2, page 640
Stephen Meyers

Sibling taxa